Obama to honor LASIK inventor

Peyman got patent for surgery in 1989

by Ryan Randazzo - Jan. 30, 2013 05:20 PMThe Republic | azcentral.com

The Arizona doctor and inventor of LASIK surgery will be honored at the White House Friday by President Barack Obama along with 10 other inventors receiving the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Gholam Peyman has two practices called Arizona Retinal Specialists, in Sun City and Sun City West. He also is a faculty member at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a professor of optical sciences and engineering at UA.

The award from the president is the highest honor the U.S. government gives to scientists, engineers and inventors. It was created in 1980, recognizing contributions to "America's competitiveness and quality of life" and for people who have "helped strengthen the Nation's technological workforce."

"I'm quite surprised," Peyman said Wednesday. "I did not really expect this because of all the qualified people in the country in the fields of engineering, physics, etc. To be among these people is amazing and I feel very good."

Peyman, 75, is an ophthalmologist and surgeon who received the original patent for LASIK eye surgery in 1989, following on others' work using lasers to correct vision problems.

LASIK allows patients to correct problems that usually require eyeglasses. It is among 124 patents he has been granted in his life.

He previously worked at the University of Illinois, Louisiana State University and Tulane University, where in 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed his laboratory, prompting his move to Arizona, he said.

In 2005, he was selected by ballot of ophthalmologists to be inducted into the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.

Peyman was born in Iran and studied medicine in Germany, according to his personal autobiography.

He has published more than 850 scientific articles, 10 books and scientific texts.

"I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators," the president said in a prepared statement when the awards were announced in December. "They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this nation great -- and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment."